Here’s the a portion of the front cover of the 1904 publication “How To Play Basket Ball,” distributed by Spalding Sporting Goods.
How To Play Basketball, 1904 (Lessons For 2008 Olympians)
A close look at the last line of copy in this 1904 advertisement for gum bottom “basket ball” shoes may explain why Spalding lost its grip on the athletic footwear business a century ago.
This is how the basket ball field looked in 1904, the year that African Americans were first introduced to the game on a wide scale basis by Edwin B. Henderson. Would you prefer the left side or the right side of the field?
July 27 is the birthday of Ferdinand J. Accooe, one of the original members of the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn.
CNN’s “Black In America” special is tired, tedious, and out of date. It’s what you expect from CNN: negative, fear-based, dumbed-down sensationalism. It’s a boring, depressing, uninspiring drag. CNN started out on the right foot — the program was originally supposed to be called “Race In America.” It could have been so useful and valuable… Read more »
This is what makes it so difficult for some Black Fives Era players to be fairly considered for comparison and recognition by the committee members responsible for selecting inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The building’s gymnasium was the site of many early games between African American basketball teams, including the Washington 12 Streeters led by Edwin B. Henderson.
Various updates that are unconnected. Or are they?
The St. Christopher Club, which had arguably the most successful non-professional basketball team of the Black Fives Era, got its start in 1896 as a bible study group to help keep young African American males off the seedy streets of what is now midtown Manhattan.
You can tell a lot about someone by their office. Or study. What’s in it, how it’s kept, what’s on the walls … these are all clues.
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Black Fives
We inspire excellence in youth and communities by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball.
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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Something deeper than what’s visible on the surface.![]()
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This piece, created by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective from remnants of our Black Fives throwback jerseys, carries that idea.![]()
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On the front, you see something beautiful.![]()
On the back, you see the work.![]()
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Tens of thousands of stitches.![]()
Each one holding the whole together.![]()
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Like the earlier African American basketball pioneers whose names were forgotten, but whose work helped shape the game.![]()
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Like the countless people, often unseen, who did and are doing the work that holds our country together.![]()
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The surface only exists because of what’s behind it.![]()
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And it’s only as strong as the weakest stitch.![]()
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Do we really want to remove certain stitches?![]()
Are we OK with pieces falling apart?![]()
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Do we value the work we don’t see?![]()
Do we recognize it?![]()
Do we protect it?![]()
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That’s the real story.![]()
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A cultural archive. A sports heritage platform.![]()
Build with us.![]()
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Make History Now.![]()
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#blackhistory
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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A deep archive of early African American basketball.![]()
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The stories, the images, the history that shaped the game.![]()
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But this is more than an archive.![]()
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It’s a cultural IP and sports heritage platform.![]()
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Infrastructure of history, identity, and assets ready to build with.![]()
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For partners, institutions, and brands who want real cultural authenticity, not just performative optics.![]()
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Build with us.![]()
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blackfives.org/build![]()
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#blackhistory #culturalheritage #brandpartnerships #archives #intellectualproperty